He was so good they named him twice, African most skillful player of all time. They don't make them like him this days, growing up I fell in love with football watching players like him and Ronaldinho do their thing. Okocha had the dribbling, passing, vision, crossing of an elite playmaker. Crazy he never won the African best player of the year.
The Jay Jay Okocha appreciation thread
- Thread starter Trex
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He was so good they named him twice, African most skillful player of all time. They don't make them like him this days, growing up I fell in love with football watching players like him and Ronaldinho do their thing. Okocha had the dribbling, passing, vision, crossing of an elite playmaker. Crazy he never won the African best player of the year.
What a player he was, that roll under the foot and shimmy is a lovely piece of skill that I teach to kids at football now, and I tell them to go look up JayJay Okocha on Youtube.
He really loved taking the piss against Arsenal.
The second freekick vs Villa is one of the best ever scored in the PL.
The last one in here too.
What a player, believe someone said once he was a showboat he was a showman.
He really loved taking the piss against Arsenal.
The second freekick vs Villa is one of the best ever scored in the PL.
The last one in here too.
What a player, believe someone said once he was a showboat he was a showman.
Was basically the Bolton vs Barcelona situation with him and Eto'o
2 free kicks against Villa in the same game, wasn't it?
He also toyed with us a fair bit ... I remember watching him on TV selling Roy Keane a faint and poor Keano ran off the frame of the TV screen!
Fantastic player, a joy to watch and one of those that make you fall in love with the game. Severe lack of flair players in the modern game.
I miss these maverick type of players. Loads of them in 90's and early 2000's, the game has changed. There was a time, where all fans enjoyed watching certain players. Regardless of who you supported, Jay Jay was one of them. The freedom and love of the game, everyone appreciates that.
Antony's spigot spinner "move" ...
Yeah Eto could claim to be Africa greatest ever footballer.
Thing about JJ was, yes he was a showboater but he combined his outrageous skills with end product. He had superb technique and no skill was ever wasted, he always executed the pass or the final action. No one even close to him these days. He played in a generation of great midfielders but testament to his greatness is that he is never forgotten, would have loved to see him play for one of the big boys in his prime though but unfortunately back then all the big boys had superstar midfielders as well.
Best footballer would be Jay Jay or Aboutreika, in terms of pure talent and ability, those two were insane but in terms of success, trophies in addition to ability then Eto'o takes it.
Extremely Pelé reminiscent, that.
The whole time Okocha was at Bolton, the whole world wondered wtf was he doing there, and how or why would he make that career move.
It’s as bizarre as Tevez and Mascherano rocking up at West Ham, but worse, given the Argentines were clearly using the club as a platform whereas Okocha was just randomly in the abyss.
It’s as bizarre as Tevez and Mascherano rocking up at West Ham, but worse, given the Argentines were clearly using the club as a platform whereas Okocha was just randomly in the abyss.
I don't think his time at PSG was a success so he might not have had much choice. Not that I watched him there, but i've definitely read their fans online that followed that era calling him a flop/disappointment a bunch of times.
He wasn't a player I watched much at all, but looking back at his career it seems like the two very productive seasons he had at Fenerbahce + some good play at the 98 World Cup was his best time to get a big move, but for whatever reasons it didn't happen. That was around the same time that Elvir Baljic got a move to Real Madrid after a very good season for Fener.
But Bolton? it’s so left field what Allardyce managed to do there, enticing so many talents who had a name to a tiny club in the north of England.
I didn’t know anything of Okocha at PSG, but he had a big name and reputation from the NT who were full of really good players.
I don’t recall him being classed as a gimmick, just entirely baffling to be rocking up for a few seasons in the middle of nowhere.
Throwback Tuesday! This takes me back to when Newcastle were proper cnuts... Great player!
I believe this is down to a crop of coaches in recent times wanting complete control of the ball and less individual flair.
What a squad Bolton has at the time, JJ, Djorkaef, NGotty, Hierro, etc
Genius.
Aye, Campo too. It really was a totally different PL era altogether.
Okocha would have been one of the best midfielders of his generation, if he had the right mentality and made the right career choices.
Talent wise I can’t really put any midfielder of that generation above him, what couldn’t he do? He was a good passer long and short, had a great long range shot, could shoot with both feet, dribble, had an elegant touch and was deceptively strong.
I think at the end of the day he was just happy to make it out of the poverty of Nigeria, I guess I can’t knock him for that but he could have easily been up there with the true greats.
Talent wise I can’t really put any midfielder of that generation above him, what couldn’t he do? He was a good passer long and short, had a great long range shot, could shoot with both feet, dribble, had an elegant touch and was deceptively strong.
I think at the end of the day he was just happy to make it out of the poverty of Nigeria, I guess I can’t knock him for that but he could have easily been up there with the true greats.
Magician
I think he was quite inconsistent which held him back in terms of being a regular at a top club. Much more leeway at Bolton where you can have 4/5 bad games - and essentially the team is still built around you.
One of my all time favorite players! I loved watching him play.
I think he "matured" quite late. Some of the stuff he was doing basically seemed like having fun was the priority over winning. However, once he did start to take his career seriously, he was very consistent.
And Anelka
Man, we really miss his type of flair in the modern game
poor man's Ronaldinho
An insult
Okocha is a magician in his own right. Just made questionable career choices, and if I'm not wrong, he was credited with helping Ronaldinho develop into the player he became at PSG.
Here's a Brazil legends game where Okocha was putting on a show: